Former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir opened up about BCCI’s decision to promote Hardik Pandya as vice-captain of India’s white-ball team. He said that it’ll be important to see what happens when Rohit Sharma returns to the T20 format as judging the senior opener by just one ICC tournament is not the right parameter.
Hardik Pandya appointed as full-time India’s white-ball vice-captain
Some massive changes were on the cards after India suffered a thrashing loss at the hands of England in the semi-final of the T20 World Cup 2022. Although immediate changes didn’t happen and things got worse when they lost to New Zealand and Bangladesh in the ODIs.
This prompted BCCI to take some hard steps for the series against Sri Lanka, which will mark the beginning of the home season. One of the major changes that were seen was the sacking of KL Rahul as the vice-captain of the white-ball team with Hardik Pandya taking over the charge.
Now the BCCI has officially made Hardik Pandya the full-time vice-captain of India in both ODIs and T20Is. In the absence of Rohit Sharma, he will now take over the command of Team India.#INDvsSL #IndianCricketTeam #HardikPandya #RohitSharma𓃵 #T20 #ODI #BCCISelectionCommittee pic.twitter.com/MpVfbFDTWq
— Usman Shaikh (@shaikhmohdusman) December 29, 2022
Pandya has been leading the side well in the absence of senior players as he won the T20I series against Ireland and New Zealand. He will also captain the side in the T20I series against Sri Lanka as seniors have been rested.
His leadership quality has been praised by many as he seems very calm about the things he’s doing and gives a clear picture to his players. Pandya won IPL in his very first season as a skipper, following which he is seen as the future captain of Team India.
“Judging Rohit Sharma by just one ICC tournament is not the right parameter,” says Gautam Gambhir
Following Hardik Pandya’s appointment as the vice-captain of the team, many have raised calls to make him permanent captain. Also, Rohit Sharma’s place in the team has been under scanner after T20 World Cup.
However, Gambhir feels that judging Rohit Sharma by just one ICC tournament is not the right parameter. He said that the promotion of Hardik as vice-captain will give KL Rahul added pressure as Ishan Kishan is also in staggering form. Speaking to ESPNCricinfo, he said:
“Promoting Hardik Pandya as vice-captain in India’s white-ball team is not a bad option. But we will have to wait and watch whether once Rohit Sharma comes back in the T20 format, whether Hardik will captain the side because judging Rohit Sharma by just one ICC tournament is not the right parameter, we will have to wait and watch. Probably KL Rahul might find it difficult to actually make it into the scheme of things because with the kind of form Ishan Kishan is in.”
Indian Team will be next seen in action in the three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka, which will be played from 3rd to 7th January.
